The Hero: King
by Yama0
Summary: Kayaba Akihiko had accounted for many things when he set his stage. The players would be kept alive to populate Aincrad, unique skills to be granted to those with the potential to be the heroes of this story and even the role he would play in this living world he created. But there was one thing he could never have foreseen. The appearance of a real hero in this fake tale of his.
1. Chapter 1

**I've skipped over Kayaba giving his 'tutorial' since I assume that most readers will be familiar with it at this point (why else are you reading SAO fics?). I'd rather not pad it out with a couple thousand words treading out the same stuff. Likewise, I'm also assuming people are somewhat familiar with One Punch Man and who King is. That and this should take place after King met Caped Baldy and decided to take a more active role in being more heroic than he already is.**

* * *

"Hey, Kirito! You look pretty good in real life! You're quite my style!"

Klein spied a bitter smile on his black-haired friend's face for an instant before Kirito turned his back to him. His voice carrying a bitter tone even as he shouted back, "Your look suits you ten times better as well."

And with that, Kirito broke into a full sprint, head held low as he ran through alleyway. The brown-haired man watched him dart around a corner and disappear with a complicated expression. He stood around for a few more seconds, his eye lingering on the corner before he dropped a remorseful sigh. It was a shame honestly but ultimately there was no way he could force responsibility of him and his friends onto Kirito. It wouldn't be right to anyway.

He took a moment to scratch at his slightly bearded chin and then to tighten his bandana before turning back towards the plaza. But this wasn't the time to reminisce about what ifs. His friends were probably still in there, confused like everyone else trapped in this death game. The sooner he got to them, the better before they get themselves killed or something.

Keeping that in mind, he backtracked his way out of the alleyways and sped back to the plaza. Hopefully none of them had tried to go out to the fields without the rest of them first. It was a good thing they had agreed to use their usernames from their last game so they could recognise each other. Otherwise he'd have no idea how long it'd take to find each other.

Turning the last corner, he could see the vast majority of players were still in plaza. Out of the ten thousand or so that had been originally teleported in there were… uh… maybe nine thousand or so left? He honestly couldn't really tell but the crowd had definitely gotten smaller. He wouldn't have another chance as he dove in and started to wade through the crowd, bumping and almost shoving his way past panicky and desperate players.

"Dale!" He shouted into the horde of people, his voice barely clawing its way past the thousands of others drowning the Town of Beginnings. "Issin! Kunmittz! Dynamm! Hairy One!"

"Klein!"

Swerving his head in the direction he had heard the faint call, Klein began shoving in that direction. That had sounded like… "Issin!"

"Klein!" "Klein! Over here!"

The call was more distinct now as two other voices picked it up. Just over the head of the crowd, he could see a couple hands waving up in the air. That and Dale's large physique made him easy as hell to spot now that he knew where to look. "Dale! Hairy One!"

Klein saw the others soon enough, the three of them grouped up and still waving for him to get closer. Pushing and apologising his way past a group of girls, he caught his foot under someone's leg at the last moment and stumbled. Dale's quick reflexes being the only thing that kept him from faceplanted. "Thanks."

"No problem." Was Dale's gruff reply as the thick man pulled him into their small circle by the arm. "You see Dynamm yet?"

"No not yet." Klein replied, straitening himself back up. "Good to see you guys though."

"Yeah no kidding." Issin breathlessly replied, his friend's eye darting back to spot in the sky where Kayaba Akihiko's avatar had occupied only minutes earlier. Where the bastard had announced this death game of his. "You think this is actually real and not just a hoax or something?"

"I for one hope that it's just a joke gone wrong." Harry quipped. The youngest member of their group then fixed him with a difficult stare. "And Klein?"

"It's Harry One. Yeah I know." Klein finished for him. He's gone over this with a hundred times already but hey, it wasn't his fault that Harry decided that wearing all that fur armour was a good idea. It was like literally running a dungeon with a bear in their party. Stats over looks and all. Heh, actually that probably wasn't a bad idea right now given the circumstances. "So, we just need to find Dynamm then."

"Yeah. Hope he's still in the plaza and didn't run off." Dale said, his head swivelling around, searching the crowd while leveraging his height over pretty much everyone else.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not sure if he's even in the game." Issin suggested, looking a bit uncomfortable. The skinny man rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"What do you mean he's not in the game? He was over at your apartment, wasn't he?" Harry interjected, an incredulous expression upon his face.

"Yeah… well he had something bad for lunch or something cause he was still on the toilet when I dived in." Issin explained, a bit embarrassed himself.

Klein gave him a flabbergasted look, one shared by the others. "So, you're saying he lucked out of this because he was taking a dump."

"Maybe." There was a short pause before Issin's lips then drew up in a nervous smile. "Pretty shitty luck, right?"

Harry and Dale both groaned while Klein just facepalmed. Fixing him with an exasperated stare, Klein demanded. "Are you being serious right now or just making a crappy joke?"

Issin choked back a sudden laugh at about the same time Klein realized what he just said and just sighed. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered with him at all.

"But I'm serious. He actually might not have gotten in before the news hit." Issin suddenly added, reverting back to a graver tone. "I hope the idiot doesn't try to take my Nerve Gear off."

"Same. Hope my family doesn't try to as well. It'd suck to have my brain microwaved." Harry added while Dale just grunted his agreement to the sentiment.

Klein just nodded along. He lived alone so… yeah, he just had to hope that delivery guy bringing the pizza he ordered called the police or an ambulance. Or well, he still had friends that knew he was going into Sword Arts Online. They'd probably check up on him at least. Hopefully.

"Oh right." Klein blurted out, gaining his friend's attentions. "We should add each other to the friend's list. That way we can message each other if we get split up."

"Sounds good." Dale agreed, flicking open the menu.

"Yeah." Issin echoed as he opened his own.

Harry nodded along and mimicked their hands but unlike them, nothing popped up. His friend tried a few more times to no success before sheepishly looked to him. "Guys, how do you open the menu?"

"Seriously?" Issin asked, before moving in to coach him in the proper way of opening menus.

"Well it's not like they had a tutorial for this thing." Harry defended himself with as he finally managed to open the menu. And within a minute, because there was a crap ton of people near them to sort through, they had added each other as friends in game. With that done and done, Harry looked up to him, "So, what's the plan Klein?"

"Right." Klein absently nodded. What was the plan? "Well… I picked up a few things from a Kirito, he's a Beta player I met awhile back, and I figure I should probably teach it you guys how the combat works. That and uh… we should probably form a party first as well."

"Beta player?" Issin repeated, sounding intrigued. "You think we could add him to the party as well?"

"Ah…" Klein hesitated for just a moment on what to say before deciding on, "Nah. We got separated when we were teleported in. No idea where he is anymo- "

"Is… is that King!?" A shrill voice screamed out nearby. And by nearby he meant literally right behind him.

Swerving his attention backwards, he saw one of the girls he had went past earlier pointing even further out. His eyes tracing the direction of her pointed finger and he felt his jaw drop as he recognised the tall man she had called out.

Even with the beginner gear looking comical on him; Klein couldn't help but draw a troubled breath upon sight of him. The tall, fit physique. The swept back blond hair. The three scars across his left eye. That serious and calm demeanour, as if this whole mess hadn't phased him in the least.

It… it really was him. The seventh ranked S-Class Hero. The World's Strongest Man.

King!

Just like him, his friends and everyone else near King had their attention glued to the Hero. Further out, he could hear people repeating the original scream. The shouting beginning to almost eclipse the screams of panic and disbelief as more and more players jostled and shifted in the background to catch at sight of him. But even as people battled to be near him, not a single person dared to actually get close to the living legend.

For his part, King remained silent, blue eyes sweeping the crowd. Everywhere his gaze reached them, people stifled their mouths. The ones surrounding King, him and his friends included, had already fallen into a heavy silence while cries of his name were now echoing across the fringes of the crowd.

Then, in a soft, unbroken voice, King spoke. "Calm down."

And just like that, an aura of silence fell upon the crowd as a whole. Those closest to him clamping their mouths shut tight while those further away were spreading his words to the very edges of the crowd. In under a minute, everyone had fallen into silence. Broken only by the occasional whisper that were always quickly hushed by a neighbour.

Klein felt his mouth run dry as he slightly trembled at the display. So, this was the power of the World's Strongest Man. With just two words and sheer presence alone, he had muffled a crowd of thousands and drew all eyes on him.

And then. He heard it. It was faint at first. A soft rumbling barely audible over the game's background music. But with each passing second, it grew louder and louder and louder until it was almost as if someone was beating his own ears like a drum. His trembling turned to outright shaking and he took a hasty step back as the simple animal part of his mind teetered underneath King's dispassionate gaze.

This… this was the King Engine! The rumbling of King's heart as his bloodlust rises and he readies himself for battle.

It was ridiculous. Even in a situation like this, King was still feeling bloodthirsty?

And now that he was thinking about it; it wasn't just ridiculous but outright crazy. Real life strength didn't translate over to power in Sword Arts Online. Incredible as it may sound, King should be only be as strong as they all were now. A level one player stuck in game where death meant death in real life.

Yet even with his power and abilities made redundant, King didn't look the least diminished. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see an iota of fear or distress on him. If anything, the rumbling of the King Engine could only mean he was actually feeling excited for this! The man did fear risking his life in the least.

Klein let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. His eyes not letting loose of King for a second. The entire plaza was essentially clear of noise now, thousands of players waiting in anticipation for what King would say next. And even with the lives of ten thousand players resting upon his shoulders, King remained stoically calm as he assessed the crowd. If he had to guess what was running through the mind of a legend like that, it would him considering the best ways to help save as many people as he could like the Hero he was.

"I want everyone to form up and join a party!" This time King shouted above the crowd. His voice loud and clear unlike the almost whisper of before.

Klein hastily nodded his approval. Yeah, it made sense and it was what he was going to do anyway. Safety in numbers and everything. As the plaza scrambled to find people to form parties, he turned back to his friends. "Well we were going to make a party, anyway right?"

"Y… yeah." Issin said, almost reluctantly tearing his eyes away from King who remained in his spot, watching over everyone else. "Still, King. The actual King playing SAO?"

"Yeah. King's actually here." Klein said, a nervous smile pulling on his lips. Even if he was a bit scared of the guy, knowing that they had him here in the game did reassure him a bit. The situation was feeling quite so hopeless anymore either. With a few quick flicks, he formed the party and sent the invites out to his friends.

"Did anyone else hear the King Engine?" Harry asked once he accepted the invite. His friend almost skittish and fidgeting with his hands. "Scared the crap out of me."

"Thought I could see the fires of hell behind him." Dale quietly muttered. The usually stoic man shivered. "No wonder he's the strongest man in the world."

"No kidding." Klein added, feeling a bit of a chill snake up his spine as he sneaked another look at King. The pressure he felt from just being near him? He couldn't even imagine what that'd feel like if he was actually facing King and had his full attention. Turning away, he scanned the party menu and noticed a name missing. "Hey Issin, you going to accept?"

"Hm? Oh right." His friend snapped away from staring at King to quickly join the party. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"King appearing in SAO and now Issin's thinking." Harry shook his head. "What next? Pigs start flying?"

"I think there was actually a Tiger class monster that was a pig and- "

"Yeah, fuck you guys too." Issin casually brushed them off. "But seriously. Why is King still here? I doubt a little electricity will kill him."

"I'm not sure even he could survive having his brain fried." Klein pointed out. Heroes were still human after all and he was pretty sure humans couldn't survive having their brains turned to mush.

"Have you see the shit S-Class heroes go through though?" Issin shot back. "If they can survive being punched into a mountain, there's no way the Nerve Gear could kill them that easily."

That said, Issin kind of had a point with that. He distinctly remembered seeing on TV Tank Top Master being pummelled through a couple apartment buildings and walk it off like nothing. If that had been a normal person, they'd been splattered on the first wall.

"Isn't it obvious?" Dale joined in. His large friend folding his arms and nudging his head in King's direction. "He could probably survive the electromagnetic pulse easy. So, if he wanted to leave he could just throw himself off a cliff or something. But he hasn't. Now why wouldn't a Hero want to leave a death game like this?"

"Because we're all still here." Harry concluded for him, his voice filling with a new sense of appreciation. "Cause King's a Hero after all."

"Yeah." Klein slowly nodded, glancing back to where King was still silently standing. "He's a Hero. There's no way he could just abandon everyone here."

"Um… excuse me?" a soft voice asked from behind.

"Hm?" Klein turned to find himself face to face with some guy who looked a couple years older than him, his hair a scruffy grey. A small group of other players lined behind him. "Yes?"

"You guys are in a party, right?" Klein nodded, feeling a bit tense at the question. It wasn't like he really minded adding another person to his party but… "Could you tell us how we do that? None of us have played an MMO before so we're all kind of new to this."

"Ah. Sure. That's no problem." Klein reassured them, his shoulders releasing a bit of the tension. Demonstrating with his opening his own menu. "You just need to find this button here then press _Create Party_." He waited for the guy to do so before continuing. "Then you can send the invites to people close to you. Just look at them and you should see their names."

"And then we just press it right?" The player said, already pressing it as he spoke.

"Yeah. Then they should have an invite popup."

"Ah. I see." The man bowed his head in thanks. "Thanks a lot."

"Happy to help." Klein replied with a smile. He shared a curt goodbye with the man before re-joining his friends who had been watching in silence.

"Wow, you're like a pro now Klein." Harry commented.

"Aw, it was just basic stuff you know." Klein replied, a bit embarrassed. It wasn't really anything after all. Redirecting the topic, he nodded his head in King's direction with a sudden epiphany. "You think maybe that's why King hasn't said anything else yet? Because some people don't know how to do the basic functions yet?"

"Probably." Issin mused, agreeing with him. "Some people here probably never played an MMO before.:

As if hearing this, and he probably could actually, King then shouted folded his arms and demanded, "Raise your hand if you were in the Beta!"

Klein saw a few shaky hands raise up over the multitude of heads in the plaza. More of them rising as people once again people passed along what King said through the crowd. Not to mention the noise was dying back down again as people anxiously pressed in to hear what King was going to say next. After a few seconds, he could see maybe a couple hundred hands held up. This out of the thousand players that were in the Beta.

"I want you guys to lead the parties and teach them how to play the game!"

Klein blinked but once again nodded as he comprehended where King was going with this. Getting the experienced players to teach the newer ones made sense. That way there wouldn't be people dying because they didn't know how to use combat arts to kill a basic boar… yeah, this was definitely a good idea.

That said though, the max party size was only six. There was going to be nowhere near enough Beta players to go around, especially if they doubled up in a party or something.

"Everyone else without a Beta player in your party! I want you to follow a party that does!"

Okay, so King could read minds now as well. Sweet.

"Hey Klein." Issin nudged him. "About that Beta player you talked about, did you add him to your friends list? Maybe you could get him to meet up with us."

"Hm? Ah yeah. Good idea." He said even though he knew it was the exact opposite of that. Kirito was probably already at that village he mentioned and he didn't want to try rush there himself when he was still a beginner to the game. And once Kirito started grinding there, the odds of them catching up anytime soon weren't good.

Still, the least he could do was tell him about King being here and how he was organizing everyone in the plaza.

 _Kirito, just a heads up. King is here. And by King, I mean the Hero King not an actual king. He's managed to calm things down and is trying to organize everyone. I know you probably won't come back but just think about it okay? With everyone working together, it's probably safer and I don't want to see a friend die. Either way though, I wish you the best of luck._

Yeah… the ending sounded a bit tacky but he wasn't sure how to end it in any other good way. Still, he got the point across so without further ado, he sent the message. Back to his party, he said, "I bet he's probably already in a party already."

"Yeah, probably." Issin nodded before sighing and turning to look over the crowd that had split into thousands of small groups. The plaza was pretty much decorated with polka dots made up of player clusters. The parties with Beta players probably being the biggest blobs as other parties clustered around them.

"Didn't hurt to try." Dale added, "We need all the help we can get."

"Then do you think we should get a sixth member? Everyone else seems to be maxed out." Harry then asked, gesturing to all the other parties around them. As he said, all of them seemed to be full parties and were in the midst of introducing themselves to each other as well. Not a single left out player in sight. Pretty amazing actually. If King hadn't been here, he couldn't even imagine the mess this place would have been.

"Don't see anyone else to add though." Issin put his thoughts to words. Looking left to right for an extra player. "Well there's King I guess."

"I guess." Klein absent-mindedly replied as he went up on his toes to scan the crowd. It took a moment for the cogs of his mind to move forward and he dropped back down with a sudden, and maybe stupid, idea. "Wait. King's not in a party yet?"

"Um… I don't think so." Was Issin's hesitant reply.

"Yeah, I haven't seen anyone go up to him or anything." Harry added on before he realized where he was going with this. "You're not thinking of inviting King, right?"

"I… I mean, even if it's King; he still needs a party, right? Since his powers don't work here and all." Klein tried to justify not only to them but himself. The idea wasn't sounding so appealing all of a sudden but still, he didn't feel like he could just dump it either. Like Dale said, they needed all the help they could get. "If you guys don't want to though…"

"Nah, if you think it's a good idea…" Issin trailed off as he shot a jumpy look to King who was busy overseeing the crowd as a whole. "I mean, he does look like he knows what he's doing."

Dale just nodded as he usually did, indicating he'd go along with whatever he decided on while Harry just breathed in before adding, "It's your call Klein."

Gee thanks guys. Leave all the hard decisions to him in a game where his decisions could mean life or death for everyone else. No pressure.

"I guess we should then." Klein mumbled, keeping his darker thoughts to himself. Honestly, he wasn't sure if actually should or not or even if it was a good idea. And say he did send him an invite, what if King rejected it? King looked more than just competent, did he even need a party?

But they did need a sixth member and who better than the Hero King himself? Doing his best to not let his worriers overtake him, he came to a decision. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Well guys, wish me luck."

If his friends said anything, he couldn't hear them over the thumping of his heart as he stiltedly walked towards King. More than a few players stopping their own conversations to watch him slowly approach King. He was starting to think this was a bad idea. Actually, that was wrong. He was starting to think this was stupidest idea he's ever had. He was going to look real dumb if King just ends up saying no.

It was too late to back out now though. Too many people had noticed and were watching like this some sort of movie with the dramatic conclusion on display. That's to say; bloody everyone decided that watching him going over to King was more important than anything else right now. That wasn't the worst part though because of course these things couldn't be easy for once.

King himself had noticed. How couldn't he with everyone else going silent to stare. It took every bit of courage he could muster to not just break and run away from the Hero's dispassionate gaze.

Ending up just in front of him, Klein looked up and up and up to finally meet King's oppressive glare. As he stared into his eyes, he felt his mind turn to mush under its overwhelming pressure they exuded. For a moment, he forgot completely what he had come here for, the roar of the King Engine overwhelming all other thoughts. All he knew was that he didn't want to be here yet no matter how much he tried, his legs just wouldn't obey.

"Yes?" King spoke and not just that! He gave him a chance, a life line for which he could climb his way back out.

"King… I mean, King sir!" And he screwed it up already. After seeing King's eyes narrow in intense anger at his disrespect, he just closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Ah ha ha… so this was how he was going to die. Twenty-two and still a bachelor but hey, it wasn't too bad of a life.

"Just King is fine." He heard King say. This about a second after realizing there was no sudden deathblow coming for him and he hadn't just committed suicide by King. "Did you want something?"

"Oh. Uh. Well. Can you… I mean do you… do you want to join our party?" Klein frantically waved his hands protectively in front of him when King narrowed his eyes once again. The excuses spewing out of him like a released pressure valve. "I wasn't trying imply you're weak or anything. I have only the utmost respect for Heroes. I just saw you didn't have a party. Not that you need a party anyway. But still, I was just wondering?"

Klein froze, his arms still stretched out to random directions when the rumbling of the King Engine began to subside. The Hero looking like he was genuinely considering the offer, his hand stroking at his chin as the Hero pondered. "Send me the invite then."

Klein almost laughed out his relief. And just like that, he accepted and this whole thing was settled. Now, he just wanted to slink back to his friends and hope they don't mock him for the rest of his life for looking like an idiot.

"And…" King stared at something above his head, probably his name. "Klein. Thanks."

Klein just nodded at first as his thoughts sprinted double time to keep up. This was his chance to say something cool. To make up for all his screw ups from before and maybe even impress King. "N… No problem."

Goddamnit!

* * *

And so, it was thus, by the end of the hour, where there was once a horde of desperate humanity was now an army of determined players. The thumping of thousands of feet resounding across the Town of Beginnings as they marched out of the gates into the wild, King himself leading the way at the army's helm.

And once the golden plains were in sight, they stopped. Hands fingering their weapons, feet fidgeting nervously as the army awaited a signal that only King could provide. Some final words that would set them on the first step of clearing Sword Arts Online.

"Okay, let's go."

An encouraging speech? Some motivating words? King needed none of these to inspire. By organizing them all into a single force, by forging them all into one blade, by providing hope and leadership where there was none to be found; that was inspiring enough. And it was that in mind, thousands of players charged into the fields, ready to strike down the looming monsters that stood in their way.

Those boars had no idea what hit them.

* * *

 **I hope I got King's character right. It's a bit hard since he no longer has all his powers and is basically just a average person right now. That said, King's master gaming skills should prop him back up soon enough.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just so everyone knows, I know fully well how 'powerful' King really is. The last AN was me just joking about King's 'power' to somehow look like a badass despite all evidence otherwise.**

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King stood upon the edge of the precipice, the height of the plateau affording him a vast view of the forest below. Beyond the stretches of hinterland, the sun was beginning its final run, its fiery glory already dimming beneath the horizon. With arms crossed and meeting the sun's diminishing glare, no one could deny the grand image he presented. Especially as his shadow was cast over the thirty or so players that still insisted on stalking him, Klein's group not included.

As the cluster of players rested and chatted after a long day of fighting monsters, King remained aloof. He remained a good distance away, his back to them as he once again pondered the same question that had been pressing at him since yesterday, when Kayaba had announced this death game.

 _What the hell was he going to do?!_

Outwardly, King was the epitome of calm and collected. With his sturdy posture, crossed arms and head held high, he projected an image of unflinching power benefiting the World's Strongest Man.

Inwardly, King was just trying his best not to cry.

Ten hours. Ten hours of risking his life in this death forest trying to level because that was what was expected of him. Ten hours of fighting murder monsters because he couldn't just up and run away when people started panicking the plaza. Ten bloody hours of trying to lead complete strangers and praying to whatever god there was that no one died!

And that wasn't the worst part. Not in the least. If he was honest, ten hours would be a drop in the bucket compared to who knows how many more hours of this crap he was going to have to do!

All because he was too scared to just man up and admit that he wasn't the hero they all thought he was. And now because of that, he didn't even have the choice anymore.

He had seen how they had looked at him in the plaza. How his every word, even if it was just common sense, seemed to resonate across the crowd. How all the building despair and fear gave way to rising hope as they used him to be the shining hero to rally behind.

Okay, that last part was a bit pretentious but the point was that since almost everyone knew he was here and was busy hero worshipping him, he couldn't just drop off the radar and hide. People would definitely search for him and when they inevitably do and find out that he wasn't the Hero they all wanted him to be?

King couldn't help but shudder as he imagined all the disappointment, anger and hate that would arise if the illusion was shattered. And if they got angry enough…

Nope! He didn't even want to think about what an angry mob would do to him.

Essentially, if he tried to be the Hero; he was probably screwed. If he didn't try and just went and hid somewhere; he was even more screwed.

King inwardly groaned as he found himself in the exact same dilemma as yesterday. He was like a character stuck with a couple hundred death flags and locked into a route with only bad ends in sight and more flags in sight.

But hey! Look at the good news; he was now level three only after a day of training. Apparently, this was pretty fast. Now he was only slightly less likely to die a horrible death. Good for him…

With one last look at the fading sun, King exhaled and cleansed his face of dreary expressions before retreating to the rest of the group.

They should probably head back to the Town of Beginnings. He had no idea if monsters were still active at night and he didn't want to know. Fighting them during the day was hard enough, going at it in the darkness of night? Hell no.

"We leaving?" He heard Klein ask him, the man finally able to talk to him without having a heart attack half way. Now if only that could be said for everyone else.

"Yes." Was his simple reply, stirring more than a few resting heads. "It's too dangerous to remain here at night."

There were a few subtle signs of agreement amongst the crowd. The nodding of heads, the way some cast their eyes in the direction of town. As always, no one would even dare raise an argument against him. Whether that was a good thing or not, he still wasn't sure.

King passed through the players, the whole lot of them waiting till he paced by before following him in an informal line like his own personal retinue. This had been the impromptu formation they had been using throughout the day. On one hand, he essentially had a small army on call. On the other, every, and literally every, monster attack would go for him first and foremost.

Maybe the AI could tell he was the leader? Maybe he was just the one that triggered their aggression first? He had no idea but every encounter with monsters today had started with him being jumped by something. This had essentially forced him into the role of a tank.

Did he like it? Nope.

Did anyone else want to swap with him? Of course, not.

He sighed as he brushed his past a tree. Why did he ever decide to play this stupid game in the first place? He could be back home, playing Doki Doki Sisters, finishing of Minako's route but no, he just had to try out that new VR game, didn't he?

The Hero's moping was then suddenly interrupted by a scream that filled the woods.

King froze. Surprise and a shiver of fear snaking up his spine even as his head snapped to the direction of the scream. That had definitely been a human scream and that could only mean…

He involuntarily glanced behind him, hoping to see some cue on what to do. Instead he met dozens sets of eyes searching for the same thing. Everyone else was stuck, wracked with indecision and awaiting him to make some decision on how to proceed.

King crunched his eyes shut and turned away. Damn it all!

He drew his sword, banged it on his shield once before waving it down the direction of the scream. Mustering the bravest sounding voice, he could make, King called through his scowl. "Let's move! Someone needs help!"

Gritting his teeth, King broke into a run, dodging past the incoming trees. He was confident that everyone else would be quick to follow once they saw him moving.

His confidence wasn't unfounded. Though nowhere near as loud as the mob that had followed him out of town yesterday, the clamour that thirty sprinting players made shouldn't be underestimated. Shouts to 'hurry up!' and 'follow King!' spurring them on faster.

King kept his eyes ahead, not daring to glance back lest he slam into a tree, while trying to maintain a straight line as best as he could. He was soon rewarded with a bitter prize. The sounds of fighting reached his ear. The grunts and shouts of people and the snarls and howls of Dire Wolves. Though he couldn't pinpoint numbers, there sounded like a lot more wolves than there were people.

And despite his best efforts, King could feel the could touch of fear grappling with his mind, urging him to turn back. That he didn't need to put his life on the line for complete strangers that'd probably never return the favour. That even if he wanted, he could never be the hero that everyone thought he was.

And that was probably the truth. He wasn't suited to be a hero at all. He couldn't be the hero that people thought he was. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to be.

King shook his head and almost snarled as he forced the thoughts from his head. Whether he was a Hero or not didn't matter right now. This wasn't the real world anymore. He actually could do something. So even if he couldn't be a real Hero he could at least be a decent person. And a decent person wouldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Or, he hoped they wouldn't anyway. Besides, there was like thirty of them and Dire Wolves never seemed to travel in packs larger than six. As soon as they got there, they could just steam roll the-

King looked down.

He could see the endangered players. Five players against two or three times that in wolves, the whole lot of the spread out and split off from each other. Most of the unfortunate players hovering on the border between red and yellow. It was obvious that without intervention, the players were doomed.

What was also obvious was the fact that his leading foot had no earth underneath it, his boot falling onto open air. He wanted to stop. He wanted to slow down. His momentum wouldn't let him.

The next second he was descending through the air, A whistling tunnel of air sucking the breath out of him as he plummeted off the plateau.

Left with no other recourse, there was only one thing King could do.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

* * *

His blade descended, slashing a long glowing scar across the creature. The wounded wolf whimpered in pain and limped back but before Keita could follow through with a final blow, another wolf was upon him.

Grunting with exertion, Keita used his shield to block the wolf as he beat a hasty withdrawal. The wolf's snapping jaws scrambling across his shield but finding no flesh to bite at. But even though the wolf scored no direct hit, the brown-haired teen winced nonetheless as his health bar finally dipped over to the red.

"Keita, we're out of healing items!" he could hear Tetsuo scream out to him. Keita glanced over to him, seeing his tall friend's form desperately struggling to ward off the wolves as he covered for a critical Sachi.

"Dodger? Sasamaru?" He called out as he leaped to his left, dodging another wolf's lunge.

"I'm empty!"

"Just used my last one!"

The two of them called back, both from completely opposite directions. Keita bit back a scowl as he once again retreated, the three wolves attacking him finally pushing into the cliff face. His back literally against the wall.

Damnit all!

Levelling his sword at the wolves, he watched them with a wary eye as he frantically tried to come up with a plan. The five of them were split up, the Dire Wolves cutting them off from each other. They needed to link up if they were to have any chance of surviving th-

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

With a shout bursting with raw emotion, a massive form slammed into the wolves from above, the impact kicking up a plume of dust and dirt. The centre wolf not even given the chance to move before it broke apart into a flurry of pixels. And from the crater, Keita could see a familiar form start to stand up.

Was… was that King?! Did he actually just leap down from the cliff to save them?!

He had his answer as the dramatic pounding of the King Engine drummed into his ear. Despite that his health had drained to less than half from the fall, the Hero seemed unperturbed. In fact, the Hero's entire body quivered with excitement and barely contained bloodlust as he faced off against the two remaining wolves.

Giving only a low growl as warning, both wolves pounced as one. Two snarling masses leaping at King, their eyes filled with murder.

Spinning on his feet, King slammed his shield into the first wolf. The creature blasted away from him as it painfully recoiled from the shield bash. In the same motion, King brought his sword to bear against the second wolf that was coming dangerously close, drooping it down in a familiar stance.

Keita gaped as he recognised the sword skill. Was King intending to try and use Parry on the wolf? According to the skill description, you had to initiate the Parry the exact moment before the enemy's attack hit you. He could see how this could be feasible when your opponent was using a weapon but this was a damn wolf! How the hell were you meant to parry a-

His jaw dropped when the metallic clang of a successful parry rang through the air. King somehow managing to trap his blade inside the clasped jaw of the wolf. The Dire Wolf looking almost as confused and surprised as he was even as it hung from the blade.

With an almost hysterical expression, King then swung his sword into the wolf. There was no accompanying flash of a sword skill but since the wolf literally caught the blade in its mouth… King finished the wolf with a single slash that cut straight through the creature, a pained whimper escaping its jaw before it evaporated into glitter.

All this in just a few mere seconds.

Half blinded by awe, Keita only barely noticed the additional wolves that were beginning to skulk over. Credit to Kayaba, the AI for the monsters was impressive. That however meant that the other wolves had noticed King's presence and had identified him as the largest threat. The Dire Wolves not busy harrying his friends converging towards King. That still left at least six of them including the one King had shield bashed against the Hero alone.

With only a moment's hesitation, Keita stepped up to stand with King even as the Hero backed away towards the cliff. There was no way he could just let King do all the work, not while he was still standing and his friends were in danger.

"What's the plan?" He asked as he steadied himself at King's side. The Hero must have a plan right?

The answer came from above.

"Yeeaaargh!" "Aaaaaah!" "Waaaaaah!"

No matter how smart the wolves' AI might be; they certainly hadn't predicted the deluge of players literally dropping on top of them. The six wolves disintegrating in near perfect unison underneath the weight of a person as scores of players landed onto the battlefield, some more gracefully than others.

Even though all of them had lost half their health, not a single one looked the least deterred. Not to mention that the number of players now overwhelmingly outnumbered the wolves. So long as they played this right and carefully, no one needed to die today.

Had this been King's plan all along? Luring them all close to the cliff so that his followers could take out the majority of the wolves in a single strike? And he planned all this in the few seconds he had whilst fighting off two wolves?

So this was the World's Strongest Man!

"Damn… that fall nearly gave me a heart attack." A man wearing a red bandanna muttered loudly, heaving hard while clasping a hand to his chest. Taking a moment to compose himself, he looked to King. "What do we do now?"

"My friends," Keita blurted out, waving in the direction of his still beleaguered party. "You have to save them! Please!"

King barely even had time to nod before the band of players charged at the wolves. The ones leading the charge placing themselves between the remaining wolves and his friends while the ones following quickly pulled his friends out of immediate danger.

"Use healing items on them first!" Keita heard King shout out to his party. Literally not even a second later, someone was trying to shove a healing potion down his throat. He gratefully drank it all down, feeling a weight lifting off him as his health drifted back into the safe zone.

By the time Keita lifted his head back up, the battle was done. There were no wolves left standing and all the players that had saved them were amid either celebrating their timely intervention or fussing over his exhausted friends. The benefits of outnumbering your enemy ten to one.

"Thank you." He said, eyes trained on King who stood apart from the others, just silently watching them all. "Thank you for saving us." He repeated when King turned to give him his attention. "We would have died if you hadn't jumped down to save us."

The Hero looked at him impassively before turning away but not before saying, "It was nothing. You should thank everyone else here instead. They did most of the work."

"No way!" Another man in a bandana denied before looking to him. "You should have seen King. He didn't even look down before making that jump!"

"No hesitation at all." A large man chimed in amidst trying to stuff a potion down Ducker's throat.

"Yeah, I doubt any of us would have made that jump if you hadn't gone first." Another player put out, lifting his hand to pat King on the back before hastily reconsidering.

Amidst all the pouring praise, Keita heard King utter a single sentence in denial. It was quiet however. "No, it wasn't on purpose."

'…wasn't on purpose?'

Keita stared blankly at the Hero before realization struck him, comprehension settling in immediately in the aftermath.

What King was implying was that he hadn't intentionally jumped down that hole. However, his instincts, honed by countless years of heroic deeds, compelled to leap down to save them without even a second thought for himself. There was no way King could have known that he'd survive the fall. Hell, looking at the height of the cliff now, he didn't think anyone could survive that fall!

And yet King did it anyway.

Crazy? Yes. Foolish? Definitely. Nonetheless, Keita could only stand back in awe at such selfless heroism. To be able to lay down your own life to save others at a moment's notice… this was what it meant to be a Hero like King.

Keita exhaled and looked over to his friends. He could only pray that he could even be a fraction as heroic as King was today.


	3. Chapter 3

**Only just recently noticed that removes the triangle brackets I put around skills. A bit annoying and would explain some certain words being capitalised in the middle of sentences.**

* * *

One would think that finding the most famous man in Sword Arts Online would be a relatively easy thing, especially so if the one doing it was the most famous information broker in the game. Okay, admittedly she was like the only information broker but the point was that finding King shouldn't be that hard. Or so one would think.

The white windmill city of Tolbana, being the closest town to the 1st floor's labyrinth which housed the floor dungeon, served as the main base to most of the current top players. It only made sense that King would be there as well and he was! She even found his inn and which room he stayed in. Given how famous King was and how many players tended to flock under him, finding him on any other day would have been a breeze.

Except now her client wanted him found before tomorrow plus Diabel only gave her this job at sunset and since King apparently always left his room and disappeared in the evening…

Argo the Rat grit her teeth in annoyance as she strolled down one of the back alleys of the city, chasing what was probably her sixth lead this evening. She was nearing the edge of the town itself, which was practically deserted most of the time since the only thing there were the player houses that no one had the money for yet. There shouldn't be any reason why King would be here but that NPC shopkeeper had said he saw someone fitting King's description heading this way.

Yes, she was now relying on the word of computer programs but then it wasn't like all her player based leads had turned out well anyway. Besides it's not like a NPC would lie to her anyway. Even so, she didn't really have high hopes this would be a success.

Which was why, after a couple minutes of roaming, Argo was more than just a bit surprised to see the Hero's tall form slink around a corner into an alley that probably led to one of those courtyards. Hmm, guess NPCs are more reliable after all.

Now all she had to do now was tell Diabel where King is and just make sure the Hero didn't disappear to somewhere else. Once the teal-haired man arrives, she gets paid a good bit of col. But…

Never one to miss an opportunity to satisfy her curiosity, Argo traced after King. Peeping around the corner down the alley just in time to see King make a turn out of sight. As a precaution, she activated her [Hiding] skill before she made after him. Even if he was a Hero, she kind of doubted he'd like her spying on him. Most people didn't really. Thankfully her level in [Hiding] was probably the highest in the current player base. All the normal sound she made would be shrouded and her player icon should remain undetected. Besides, what King didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Taking her time to reach the end of the alley, she quietly breathed out before sneaking her eyes around the corner. As she suspected, this was some isolated courtyard complete with a couple benches placed around a small fountain.

King himself was seated on one of those benches, his back to her. The Hero seemingly locked in deep thought. Only his occasional sighs broke the otherwise quiet ambience.

Argo remained in hiding for the next few minutes watching the Hero before finally turning away, bored. It looked like King just came here for some quiet time to think or something, nothing really all that interesting. A bit of a let-down honestly.

With an absent shrug, she began to make her way back out. King didn't look like he was going to leave any time soon so she might as well call Diabel over here and get pay-

"…just come out."

Argo instinctively froze in place, nervously turning back around to peer at the Hero who still hadn't even moved. No way. How the hell did he detect her? Her [Hiding] skill should be higher than what even the people on the front line could detect. Plus King hadn't even turned around or anything to check behind him. How?

The brown-haired girl slunk back into the shadows of the alley, tugging her hood over her head, only now just noticing the rapid thumping in her chest. She was just being paranoid. Even if he wanted to; there was nothing King could actually do to her inside the city. And with another daring glance, she noted that King still hadn't even moved at all or given any indication he had actually noticed her.

When someone noticed someone else spying on them, the natural reaction would be to get up and check right? Or at least turn around to see check. It was more likely that King was just talking to himself and it just a fluke that it happened to sound like a warning.

Feeling a bit more reassured, Argo decided that enough was probably enough and that she better get out of here rather than keep testing her luck. With that, she began to tiptoe her way back out of the alley. Once she got some distance, she'd message Diabel, make sure King didn't wander off and then get paid. It wasn't like Diabel had anything malicious planned or anything. He just wanted to talk to King before tomorrow's boss meeting since King apparently didn't answer messages anymore.

"There's no point in running away."

Argo nearly choked this time she heard King's overbearing voice issue his grave warning.

It wasn't a fluke, it wasn't a fluke! He had actually detected her and was now warning her that trying to run away was a bad idea. Sure he couldn't actually do anything to her in town but getting on the bad side of a Hero like King was on the very bottom of her list of things to do.

Over a dozen plans of escape ran through her mind, most of them being dismissed outright. If King warned her like that then he was probably also confident in his ability to catch her or at least identify her. She hadn't any doubt that his stats were probably higher than hers as well especially since his [Searching] skill was so much higher than her best skill at [Hiding].

Breathing out slowly, she decided upon the plan that the least likely to ruin her. It was a bit daring but hopefully King would at least appreciate the honest approach. It was with that in mind, she stepped around the corner and admitted with a whimsical shrug. "You got me."

So there she stood, trying to be as confident as she appeared as King slowly turned himself around. His blue eyes filled with suspicion and not allowing a single detail to escape him.

He then made to get up and Argo took a step back, ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Maybe revealing herself wasn't the best of ideas?

However the Hero made no further moves to stand up and just shifted around the seat to face her. Damnit! From the way his eyes had narrowed and focused in on her, she know knew that he had been testing for her reaction. A good person with nothing to hide wouldn't have looked like they were ready to run away after all.

It was as she always known, even in this game world, King wasn't a man to be underestimated.

* * *

"I should just come out."

King sighed for what was probably the tenth time now. He really should just come out and admit that he wasn't a Hero. All his bluffing and bullshit was still holding up for now but his luck would eventually run out. And when it does, he wouldn't be the only one that'd get hurt.

The tired Hero groaned on the inside. What was the even point actually? Honestly, he bet that even if he tried to admit it; everyone would just interpret it to him being really humble or something. And what if he ran away? Someone would probably find him. He barely had any privacy as it was people 'stalking' him all the time.

There was just no way that it was just a coincidence that every inn he books in suddenly has no vacancies an hour later. It took a lot of effort just to smuggle himself away from everyone to have some time to himself. Time that he just used to mope about.

And then tomorrow, tomorrow…

King softly bumped himself on the forehead with both fists in a futile attempt to relieve himself of the headache. Someone had finally found the boss room for the 1st floor's labyrinth. There was going to be a meeting tomorrow and they'd likely try for the boss the same day. And he just knew he'd be shoved into the leadership role whether he wanted it or not.

Could he pretend that he never heard about the meeting? Nope. At least twenty people have personally went out of their way to tell him about the meeting. And unlike the real world, he couldn't just pretend he was sick or busy with something else.

For the eleventh time, King heaved a weary sigh and admitted the dreadful truth to himself. "There's no point in running away."

He might as well just get it done and over with. It should be mostly fine anyway right? There were plenty of experienced players who had run the boss during the Beta and it wasn't like the developers would have changed the boss too much since then right? Then again, Kayaba was asshole enough to trap them all here so who was to say he wouldn't change the boss to throw them a curve ball. They should probably watch out for th-

"You got me." A voice suddenly broke from behind him.

Huh?

King turned his head and arched an eyebrow at the hooded girl that had just appeared out of nowhere. Underneath the hood, he could see bangs of brown hair and some whisker marks. Wasn't that the information broker girl? Argo the something? Since when did she get here?

He made to get up and meet the girl but for some reason she immediately made a step away from him. Almost as if she was scared of him. He didn't recall doing anything that could have caused that but in any case, he stopped getting up and just reoriented himself on the bench so that he didn't seem too threatening.

"Can I help you?"

"You bet." The girl chirped almost too enthusiastically. "Do you know a guy called Diabel?"

Diabel… "He's the one who found the boss correct?"

"The one and only." Argo confirmed. "He's been trying to get in contact with you but you weren't answering messages."

"Ah, sorry. I tend to ignore my inbox." King apologised. It was probably inconveniencing him a lot but his message inbox has been flooded with private messages from people, a constant red '999' hovering over the icon.

It was mostly filled with people praising and encouraging him, going on about how he had inspired them, how they wished him the best of luck. Just playing this game was depressing enough without having to read through all that so he just filtered for people he knew and ignored the rest. No one could blame him for that right?

"He knows. That's why he wants me to arrange a meeting for him."

The guy who found the boss room wants to have a private meeting with him. King didn't even bother sighing this time. He already knew what this meeting was going to be about. "Where does he want to meet?"

Argo frowned and quickly brought up a menu, her fingers clicking and swiping in blur. "Ah… he said he can be here in ten minutes. Is that okay?"

King nodded, that was fine by him. As he had kind of said before, "Might as well get this over with." He said aloud as he tried to squish the inevitable build-up of anxiety.

Argo quickly nodded, looking more than ready to scamper off. She actually took a few steps towards the alley before she suddenly paused, gulped, and then almost hesitantly asked. "Say… what level is your [Searching] at?"

[Searching]? If he remembered right, that was used for detecting things and tracking trails wasn't it?

"A bit below the average I think." Was his truthful answer. Realizing that was probably a bit too vague, he added, "Most my usual group is a bit higher."

He'd been putting it off a bit to focus more on his heavy armour skill. He only really needed the range detection parts of it anyway since the tracking parts had been pretty useless to him so far.

Argo didn't seem satisfied with the answer however and spluttered, "Then how did you know I was here?"

"…I heard you?" King replied, a bit confused. What kind of question was that? How else was he meant to known she was there? She was the one that spoke up first after all.

"But…" Argo started before just shaking her head, a wisp of a smile on her lips. "Never mind. I guess it was only expected after all." And with a curt goodbye, the informant quickly left via the alleyway, not another word spoken.

King watched her leave, his attention kept on her until she disappeared behind the wall.

"Well okay then..."

That was a bit weird.

* * *

This was it. Their true first hurdle in this death game.

Diabel cast another look to King, the man he had ceded leadership to only yesterday. It only made sense that the S-Class Hero should be the one leading them in. He could still remember it vividly, the confused mess that had been the first day. Where everyone was panicking and despairing and no matter what he how loud he shouted or what he said, he couldn't even calm a single person.

And then, with just a few words, King had rallied everyone around him. Leaving his mediocre efforts in the dust like it was nothing. Today was just yet another example of the effects of such overwhelming charisma. A hundred was the max amount of people he had expected to show up; hundreds came.

He had laughed at that. A deep, bitter laugh.

He had known for a long time that there was a huge difference between an S-Class Hero and C-Class Hero but he liked to dream that it could be bridged with enough effort and hard work. That dream was shattered as soon as he was confronted with just how vast a gap that difference really was.

The teal-haired man tried to shake those shameful thoughts from his mind. His mind drifting back to his first meeting with King, still fresh from yesterday.

It had gone as well as one would expect and though King was known for his humble nature, he hadn't expected how humble the Hero really was. While he had been presenting his strategy and plans for the boss, King had kept up his praise of him and offered to let him lead instead. The Hero continuously downplaying himself with how he wasn't used to working in groups and that he hasn't played a game like this before.

Diabel had to admit, he was tempted. A chance to take the spotlight over an S-Class Hero like King himself. A chance to show that he could be just as heroic as someone like King. A chance to take some of that glory that C-Class Heroes like him could only dream of!

It was because of that very temptation that he couldn't in good faith accept King's gracious offer. Despite King's commendations and his constant underselling, how could a selfish man like himself possibly be a better leader than a humble man like King?

The S-Class Hero was willing to set aside his pride and reputation to let someone else take the lead simply because he believe they would be better at keeping them all alive.

How could he call himself a Hero if he couldn't at least do the same?

Diabel looked behind him to the parties of players lined up, ready and determined to make the take on all comers. More than a few were understandably nervous but not a single one had backed out despite ample chances. All they were waiting on now was King who remained at the top of the short steps to the boss door while they all waiting just below. The Hero still silently contemplating.

"Anything you want to say before we start King?" He prompted, no doubt the Hero was just waiting for the moment to give one last motivating speech before they went to battle.

Diabel was taken a bit aback when the Hero shot him a quick look that seemed almost hostile but it disappeared almost instantly. The tall man spinning on his feet and straightened up, clearing his throat and looking ready to address the room.

What did he do? Did he- of course! Diabel wanted to slap himself in the head as he realised what he had done. King probably hadn't finalised his speech in his head and now he had just forced him onto the spot. Looking to King who cleared his throat for a third time, he had to remember to apologise once this was over with.

And then King began, his tone a bit sombre and shaky, "Thank you all for standing here with me today. Without all you heroes, we would never have even gotten this far."

'Heroes'? Diabel looked over the crowd in confusion. Was everyone here actually a Pro Hero like him as well?

His answer came soon enough, a small voice that no one would have heard if it wasn't for the otherwise silent dungeon. "But we're not heroes."

"But that's just it!" King shouted back, as if he had planned for that all along, "There are ten thousand players in this game. Out of all those people, you, and only you made the choice to stand with me here today!"

King walked down those steps, placing himself on the same level as the rest of them. "There's something to be said of all Pro Heroes when they start out. All of them began with a single line: 'That I want to help people, even at the risk of my own life'" Raising his voice once again, King proudly declared, "And all of you have done the same thing today!"

"So to me," The Hero then fell silent, a pregnant silence filled the room as King took the time to regard each and every one of them not as just followers or friends, but as equals. A spark igniting in every one of them as his gaze met theirs. "You are all heroes."

"Now," King muttered as he swung himself around and marched back up the stairs, drawing sword and shield. The Hero not even hesitating before he began to open the massive door. "Let's do this!"

Diabel roared, his voice among the many as they stormed into the boss room as one.

* * *

 **I am no good at speeches so I did the exact same thing King would have done and just ripped it off some anime.**


	4. Chapter 4

It had been going so well.

The eight parties that made up their raid was split into three different roles. Teams A and B were the tanks, led by King and Agil respectively, and would keep the boss's attention on them, switching out whenever one took too much damage. Teams C to E were the DPS teams. Headed by himself, Lind and Kibaou, they were to focus on dealing damage to the boss itself. Argo and Beowulf led the last two teams, F and G, as the support teams. Their role was to essentially keep the additional monster spawns away from the boss and help the other teams when necessary.

Overall, Diabel considered it a fairly safe setup. Definitely more safe than in the beta where everyone just attacked the boss and hoped for the best but lives weren't at risk back then. The most important thing was that it was working!

Roughly half the party were beta players that was already familiar with the boss's patterns first hand and the others were thoroughly coached beforehand. With all of them also being a bit overleveled for boss, Diabel would almost call the fight boring and repetitious.

Tanks would keep the aggression. DPS would chip away at health. Support would drag the adds off to the corners of the room. Everyone would move out of the way whenever Illfang did an area of effect attack. Those thankfully only came whenever he lost a bar of health.

And then came to Illfang's last bar of health. When the familiar crash of breaking glass rang, everyone was already moving. The Tanks and DPS teams moving to Illfang's flanks as the oversized red lizard threw his weapons away. This would the part where Illfang drew a talwar. If he remembered right, his speed, damage and reach would all increase and he'd restart the fight with a massive forward swing that was essentially a frontal cone of damage.

That was when everything went wrong.

"That's not a talwar!" Someone from Lind's team yelled out when Illfang fully unsheathed his new weapon. His warning repeated several times as the raid started to hesitate in front of his unpredicted change. "It's a nodachi!"

Diabel felt the moment that dread struck him. If he wasn't using a talwar anymore then that probably also meant that he wasn't just going to do a frontal attack. Not wasting any time, he swung his arm out to his party. "Get back! Get back!"

His orders were echoed not even a moment later by the other party leaders as the various teams switched from flanking to the boss's side to simply just getting away from him. If they were lucky, Illfang would still do the frontal attack and miss all of them. If they were unlucky, then he'd do something completely new and new was not good.

They were not lucky. None of them could take even a few steps before Illfang suddenly ducked low and performed a full spin. His nodachi a silvery flash of light as the Kobold Lord used an omnidirectional skill that struck all those standing by him. It happened in an instant, not affording anyone the chance to even shield against it.

Diabel didn't feel any pain. Not even Kayaba was the cruel. What he did feel was his body gusting through the air as he and most the raid group was knocked away from the boss to the far edges of the hall.

"Oof!" Diabel released as he landed on his side, rolling over twice more before coming to an awkward halt. The moment he tried to pick himself back up, his limbs suddenly went inert as a lightning effect sparked across them. A small icon raising presenting itself at the corner of his vision.

 _[[Stunned 15s]]_

Goddamnit! They had been so close!

Thought he couldn't move his body for the next fifteen seconds, Diabel could still lift and turn his head. He wanted to see how many of them had been caught in that surprise attack. The outlook wasn't good. No, that'd be understating it. The outlook was utterly terrible.

Players were littered across the edges of the hall, all of them paralysed just like him. The only players still standing belong to the distant support teams that looked unsure on how to proceed now that so many of them were essentially out of the fight. And in the centre of the hall, Illfang still stood defiantly, brandishing his new wicked nodachi. To cap it all off, there were at least a dozen players lying on the ground right next to him, helpless before the giant kobold.

Damnit! Damnit! He looked again to the status effect, desperately hoping that he could get back up. He needed to get back up! If no one did, then those next to the boss were effectively already dead.

 _[[Stunned 12s]]_

Illfang began to advance upon the fallen players and each step he made seemed to take an eternity as Diabel could do nothing more than watch in wretched silence. People were in danger, people were going to die and once again, he could do little to change that.

 _[[Stunned 8s]]_

Teal eyes closed themselves. He couldn't watch. He just couldn't. It was cowardly, he knew that. But to have his own uselessness thrown at him one again, he just couldn't.

He waited for the inevitable.

…

"haHahaha…"

Diabel opened his eyes in confusion. No one had died, the glass crashing effect nowhere to be heard. Instead, all he could hear was the ringing of steel, the beginnings of a maniacal laughter and echoing pulse poundings of the King Engine.

"It… it's King! King's still standing!" he heard someone cry out, his words repeated across the hall as the raid group beheld the ongoing duel held at the centre.

True to his words, King still stood against the boss. The Hero alone the only thing between those helpless players on the floor and certain death. And while the Kobold Lord continued his bestial cries of anger, the Hero was laughing. A long and genuine laughter that no one had heard before because honestly, when did King ever laugh?

 _[[Stunned 4s]]_

Diabel gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around his sword's hilt as he watched King continue his undiluted laugh as he battled with the boss. So, this was just how far above everyone else King really was. While everyone else here were worried for their lives, King was having the time of his life.

Everyone knew that King was overwhelmingly strong. He wasn't called the Strongest Man on Earth for nothing after all. As a warrior, he was unsurpassed. It was this very same strength that people had long speculated for King's complete impassivity when standing against threats. No matter how strong, how fast or how big; King regarded all monsters with nothing more than a look stripped of all interest. It was the same look that a human would give a fly.

Diabel would hardly call himself bloodthirsty but even he could remember the adrenaline rush and intoxicating thrill one felt in a fight. For a man like King, this must be the first time in years that he's felt that rush. The first time in years that he's fought a legitimate threat where he was no longer so powerful he could trivialize the fight. Where his own life and death was actually at stake. And what does King do?

He laughs.

 _[[Stunned 0s]]_

The moment the debuff vanished, Diabel was already on his feet while most everyone was still scrambling on the ground. Even if King was enjoying the fight, the rules of this world meant that if they didn't move fast then King was dead.

Briefly, he wondered if an electric shock to the brain would actually kill King but he brushed the thought aside as he made the first strides back to the fight. Fight first, think later. Reaching down, he pulled one of the slower players up by the collar and waved his sword at the Kobold Lord, bellowing out, "King won't last much longer so stop lying about and let's get back in there!"

* * *

King was laughing. Cackling manically as he met every strike from the boss with shield and sword. For every blow taken, whether he blocked or parried it, a huge chunk of his health was chopped off. And at the rate it was going down, he wouldn't last the minute. He knew this and yet he still laughed.

And the reason for his laughter?

He was going to die. He was going to bloody die! And for some stupid as reason he couldn't fathom, he found that hilarious.

A month he's spent in this hellhole of a game. A whole goddamn month! Every week fearing the worst. Every day expecting tomorrow was going to be his last. Hell, he spent the most of yesterday worrying his ass off about this boss.

And just when things were looking up, just when he thought facing off against this overgrown lizard wasn't too bad and that he was actually doing good; life decides to punt him back into the ground for even daring to have a glimmer of hope. If that wasn't enough, life then goes ahead to kick while he's down and drag his head up to the chopping block.

Because there was just no goddamn way that he just **happened** to be the only one who managed to get out of the boss's attack in time. Just like there was no way he just **happened** to get knocked down by some flying player. And there was absolutely no goddamn way that he just **happened** to be the only one to get back up just in time just to have the stupid boss breathing over him!

If he wasn't busy laughing his ass off at how ridiculous all this was, he'd be screaming his rage and frustrations at how much life just seemed to hate his very existence. What the hell did he ever do to deserve this?!

A quick glance showed him his depressingly low health bar. It was deep in the red now, the furthest it's even been for him. Ah… he really should have run when the moment he had gotten up. Why didn't he? Because he knew how these things worked. The moment he turned his back, the boss would just insta kill him with a combo faster than you could say-

The cold blur of Illfang's nodachi interrupted his thoughts. Relying on pure instincts honed by countless hours of ganging up on poor mobs, King swung his sword up to meet the blow, intending to parry it and maybe give him a few more seconds of time. Time that maybe, just maybe, those guys would stop sleeping on the job and save him already!

Seriously, what they hell were they all doing just lying around and standing there!?

The exact moment their two blades connected, King's longsword shattered into pixels with a dreadful screech. He wasn't laughing any more. A brief message flashed by, only now telling him that the durability of his longsword had reached zero because obviously, he needed the system to tell him his sword just broke. His shield was held too far back to get up in time, the nodachi was moving too fast for him to dodge, and he was soo screwed…

Paralysed with the very thought of his imminent demise, King could do nothing more than watch the blade make its way towards him in slow motion. Small tears starting to take form at the edges of his eyes.

Ah… he didn't want to die. Not like this.

The blow came uninterrupted, ripping him off his feet and lifting him up into the air. A shining gash reaching from his hip to his shoulder. Whatever screams he intended came out only as wordless blabber as he slowly fell back to earth.

King felt someone catch him, or more like he just crashed into someone? He wasn't really sure. Either way, it didn't matter to him. His eyes were too busy searching for his health bar, frantically watching it slowly plummet down.

He was dead. He was so dead. He should never have this. There was so much left in life that he wanted to do like… like…

...

Why hasn't he exploded into crystals yet?

King looked to his health and found no answers. The bar was empty, not even a hint of red visible. So how the hell was he still alive then? Not that he was complaining of course!

Then he saw it, and King laughed. A genuinely joyous laugh. Underneath his hp bar was its numerical display and you couldn't guess how much health he still had.

 _[[1/2790]]_

"Haha..." King started to chuckle before devolving into another hysterical laugh. He took it back! He took everything back! Thank you God, life, and whatever else there was out there! His luck wasn't so bad after all!

As he started to sit himself back up, he felt someone's hand keep him from standing.

"Don't worry King." Diabel reassured as the teal-haired man passed him, releasing his hold. "We got this."

King just nodded. They better have this because there was no way in hell that he was going back into the mess. One near death experience was more than enough for him today.

One look to the boss told him all he needed to know. Despite being near death, the Kobold Lord was no less dangerous. In fact, his attacks were growing more and more frantic, each blow seeming to hit hard and come even faster than the last.

Yep. Fuck that.

* * *

"Three cheers to King!"

King raised his hand and weakly waved to the crowd as the raid members celebrated. After they finally killed the boss and unlocked the second floor, most of the raid group had agreed to first go to a tavern and celebrate. He said most because he noticed more than a couple of players slipping away at the first chance.

And that was why they were now packed into some rusty bar drinking. Now that he thought about it, a couple of players here seemed to be fairly young. Did drinking in a virtual world count as underage drinking?

King put the thought away; it wasn't like anyone was going to check anyways. Instead, he just raised his glass to toast another bunch of players once more. His lips imitating as happy of a smile that he could fake.

There was plenty of reasons to celebrate. They had cleared the first-floor boss without a single casualty. They had unlocked the second floor and made their first step to clearing this game. And most importantly, he wasn't dead!

Even so, he was having a bit of trouble trying to match the mood of the party. It was just… it was just how people were hyping him up again. He knew they did it all the time and at first it had just been a bit embarrassing but now the hero worship was just downright creeping him out.

"King managed to resist that knockback attack!" Nope, he just got lucky.

"King was having the time of his life soloing the boss." Hell no.

"King soloed the boss to save those guys near the boss." There were people stunned near the boss?

"King could I talk to you for a moment?" There was- Wait what?

King met eye with Diabel. The young man's cheeks flushed from drinking. It was obvious one could actually get drunk in the game but now he also wondered if Kayaba was cruel enough to also implement hangovers. Oh, who was he kidding, of course he was.

"Can't you say it here?" He asked him, waving across his table.

"It's a bit private." Diabel replied before hesitantly adding. "I also probably won't be drunk enough to do this again any time soon."

That drew more than a few looks, some more innocent than others. It certainly didn't make him feel any better about this. Still, there wasn't any reason to deny him. "Alright then."

The two of them quickly left the floor, a few players calling out to them but the majority just let them go. They probably just assumed the two main leaders were going to have some strategy meeting or whatever. He actually hoped that they weren't wrong.

Once they were away from the others, inside one of the inn rooms, King turned to Diabel and asked. "So what is it?"

Again, Diabel hesitated before gulping down and saying, "Well, that thing is; I just want some advice."

King felt a bit relieved at the admission. He just wants some advice. Relief that quickly turned to apprehension when he realized that the man wanted advice from him.

"The truth of the matter is that I too am a Pro-Hero. Unlike you though, I'm just a mere C-Class." Diabel explained, sounding a bit depressed by the last bit.

"C-Class is still pretty good." Definitely better than he could ever manage in real life.

"But it's not good enough!" Diabel countered. "Even though I know I probably won't ever make it to S-Class; I still want to get stronger. So… so I was wondering if you could maybe spare some advice?"

"The Silver Fang takes disciples." King immediately replied. These types of questions usually lead up to him asking for some apprenticeship and such. And no matter how good he was at bluffing, there was no way he could actually train someone to fight.

"You misunderstand, I'm not asking you to take me as a disciple." Diabel waved his hands, dismissing the idea. "I just… I'm just hoping that maybe you could give me some training tips or something.?"

King nodded slowly. Training tips… training tips… what training tips? He's never even been a gym before! He had no idea what training for a Hero actually involved. So rather than try and make one up, he conjured up an excuse, "I haven't trained in a long time."

"Of course, of course." Diabel was surprisingly understanding. "Constantly killing monsters is probably more than enough to keep your skills sharp."

That… that wasn't what he meant at all.

"Still," Diabel continued, "even a Hero like yourself must have started out somewhere. Like, how did you train at the start?"

Damnit, he was insisting. Guess that he was going to have to make it up afterall-

"Actually, there is something." King suddenly stated. Now that he thought about it, he did know one training regimen. "There is one workout I can give you. It will be intense and strenuous, it will require dedication and hard work, but I can guarantee you that it'll make you strong by the end of it."

"I'm ready." Diabel resolutely said, leaning in to not miss a single word. "What is it?"

"100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a ten-km run. Every. Single. Day." King stated, repeated word for word the stupid workout that he heard Saitama once mention. Saitama was definitely the strongest person he knew and if it worked for him, it would work for Diabel as well right?

Diabel resolutely nodded, not looking the least deterred by the extreme workout. "So that's what you used to get strong."

"Yes." No. His legs would give out on day two.

"Then I shall follow in your footsteps." Diabel announced, fixing him with a determined look. "Thank you for sharing this with me King. I'm sure this training regimen you've developed will serve me well. I'll get to it the moment we escape from this game."

King just nodded as Diabel went on and on. Yep. The training regimen that he totally developed. The one he totally used to get strong. Yeah...

Sorry Saitama-bro.


End file.
